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Legal eagle needs help!

Legal eagle needs help!

Old Jan 23rd 2008, 7:48 pm
  #16  
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Default Re: Legal eagle needs help!

Originally Posted by angelynv
hey i would keep trying but also try to get a tc here first.. i know that means 2 yrs but its worth it. i trained with a small firm and then moved to an international firm on qualification. ive been offered a positon with the third biggest law firm in the world in their dubai office - took me a while but i got here. good luck!
Good to hear it worked out well for someone!

I'm afraid for me the HR people put me off the career completely.
I probably could have got a TC with a small provincial firm, and even had an informal offer of a job in my specialist area post qualification. But the thought of working in a small firm after a 10 year career in an international commercial business just didnt appeal. And the lack of commercial appreciation shown by HR people in the larger firms put me off a career with them.

So I came back to my old career which brought me out here!
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Old Jan 24th 2008, 11:37 am
  #17  
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Default Re: Legal eagle needs help!

Originally Posted by Foxes
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Old Jan 24th 2008, 12:48 pm
  #18  
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Default Re: Legal eagle needs help!

Originally Posted by Inselaffen
Good to hear it worked out well for someone!

I'm afraid for me the HR people put me off the career completely.
I probably could have got a TC with a small provincial firm, and even had an informal offer of a job in my specialist area post qualification. But the thought of working in a small firm after a 10 year career in an international commercial business just didnt appeal. And the lack of commercial appreciation shown by HR people in the larger firms put me off a career with them.

So I came back to my old career which brought me out here!
yes it must have been hard. at the small firm i was on the law society minimum, but i still believe it was worth living like a hermit for those 2 years as i did qualify and was able to go to a larger firm. it is very tough as there are so so many applicants - sometimes its just a case of pure luck. which doesnt seem fair when we have put all this effort into our careers
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Old Jan 25th 2008, 6:38 pm
  #19  
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Default Re: Legal eagle needs help!

Originally Posted by angelynv
yes it must have been hard. at the small firm i was on the law society minimum, but i still believe it was worth living like a hermit for those 2 years as i did qualify and was able to go to a larger firm. it is very tough as there are so so many applicants - sometimes its just a case of pure luck. which doesnt seem fair when we have put all this effort into our careers
well exactly - I cant believe how cruel the system can be!!!

I have been applying for two years and have not got a single reply yet. this industry is in chaos!!!
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Old Feb 12th 2008, 10:26 am
  #20  
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Default Re: Legal eagle needs help!

Hi,

I was also in the same position...did the LPC...couldn't find a TC at a firm I wanted to work for, same for most of the people I knew. After 4 years of studying it I decided I'd had enough of Law, went to Cairo (very random) to work in Finance and then just managed to drift back in to legal work as I was offered an in-house Compliance/Legal job at the head office here. My work is varied but I defintely enjoy the finance/legal mix and I work with lawyers who have worked at A&O etc. and we have external counsel so I feel like i have learnt a lot (thought I'm probably at my limit and ready to move on now). My understanding is if you do substantial common law content in a legal job outside the UK they can write off up to 6 months of your training contract (as per Law Society website)...so even being a paralegal for a firm here may beneficial overall. I know people who started as paralegal here and were sent to the UK to qualify (by their UK firm) and then came back qualified.
Also if you enjoy commercial law, financial services, capital markets etc...compliance and regulatory functions are an option for you and they are desperate for such positions here and are very well paid...(DIFC etc.)

x
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Old Feb 12th 2008, 10:33 am
  #21  
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Default Re: Legal eagle needs help!

Originally Posted by zabone
well exactly - I cant believe how cruel the system can be!!!

I have been applying for two years and have not got a single reply yet. this industry is in chaos!!!
not one reply? or not one interview?? Are you chasing up each application? Are you being flexible with where you apply? Sorry I may be teaching you to suck eggs here but perseverance does work (worked for me) , also dont just go for the big firms, go for smaller quality practices
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Old Feb 12th 2008, 10:36 am
  #22  
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Default Re: Legal eagle needs help!

Originally Posted by BellaUK
Hi,

I was also in the same position...did the LPC...couldn't find a TC at a firm I wanted to work for, same for most of the people I knew. After 4 years of studying it I decided I'd had enough of Law, went to Cairo (very random) to work in Finance and then just managed to drift back in to legal work as I was offered an in-house Compliance/Legal job at the head office here. My work is varied but I defintely enjoy the finance/legal mix and I work with lawyers who have worked at A&O etc. and we have external counsel so I feel like i have learnt a lot (thought I'm probably at my limit and ready to move on now). My understanding is if you do substantial common law content in a legal job outside the UK they can write off up to 6 months of your training contract (as per Law Society website)...so even being a paralegal for a firm here may beneficial overall. I know people who started as paralegal here and were sent to the UK to qualify (by their UK firm) and then came back qualified.
Also if you enjoy commercial law, financial services, capital markets etc...compliance and regulatory functions are an option for you and they are desperate for such positions here and are very well paid...(DIFC etc.)

x
Hi Bella,
Interesting on the compliance. do you know of any firms out here (Dubai) who take people without actual experience? I did Equity Finance, Debt Finance and Commercial Law on the LPC at Nottingham (2005/2006).

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Old Feb 12th 2008, 11:05 am
  #23  
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Default Re: Legal eagle needs help!

Hi,

I think it depends on the firm (I don't know exact names of company's here but I can give you a good recruiter for compliance). The Financial Services company I am currently working for are expanding very quicky and were deperate for people at the time (still are!!) and I got the initial job in Cairo through as someone I knew knew the CEO. They sent me on a course to bring me up to speed (as I had no finance backgroud) and ended up meeting the 'big guys' from here including the CCO, a month later I was on my way to Dubai (albeit for a very average salary...just less than the Law Society average) but then I had no experience so couldn't really argue. I have a bit more leverage now (even only after 1 year!) and recently had a phone call re a job in large well known investment bank expanding their compliance functions. My situation is not uncommon as Compliance is a very new thing here in the ME. Companies moving to the DIFC will bring in the CCO and high positions from their main financial centres (London, New York etc) who have the solid experience (and because it a DFSA regulated function) but for the supporting staff (Compliance Assistant/Coordinator etc) they are generally looking for people with education in law or finance and an interest. If you want to discuss futher feel free to mail me njeynes at hotmail dot com.

x

x
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